It is the company’s sixth deployment since 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, with each deployment ranging from six to 12 months in length, said Capt. Nelson Duckson, the company’s commander and Columbia, S.C., native.

Staff Sgt. Thomas Wardale, truck driver and 17-year Army veteran, has been with the 96th since 2002, and has deployed on all six rotations.

Wardale, a Hallandale, Miss., native, said one of the challenges of multiple deployments was constantly being away from his family.

He explained this past Thanksgiving and Christmas were the first ones he has spent at home since the deployments started.

Wardale said one of the biggest things Soldiers need to watch out for during the deployment is complacency, and the best way to keep from getting complacent is by treating every mission as if it were different.

“Every time you actually go, it’s totally different,” he said, explaining that the situation on the ground has changed each time he has deployed, and Soldiers cannot treat it the same as the last deployment.

“Everything is brand new,” Wardale said.

Before the Soldiers boarded the buses that would take them to the airfield, Brig. Gen. Mark McDonald, the deputy commanding general for III Corps had a few words of advice for the Soldiers.

He said they needed to trust in both their training and their leaders, and that Soldiers need not worry about the families they are leaving behind. Instead they should stay focused on accomplishing the mission, their families will be taken care of by the leaders and services here at Fort Hood.